Dr Peter White's Blog

About Me

I am retired from the Uni. of Queensland, and have numerous interests inside and outside of the uni. I play classical, bluegrass, country and folk guitar (hows that for a mix?) I am a member of the Australian Labor Party and am currently branch secretary of the Mt Coot-tha branch. I'm also involved in developing virtual reality builds and websites. Never bored!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The way forward?

It's been a tumultuous month in Oz. The new government was sworn in, parliament resumed, and the first official action was the government offering a formal apology to the first peoples of Australia, and those described as the 'stolen generations'. It was beautifully done, heartfelt, and the nation has felt a pulse of hope enter its somewhat jaded and tired collective soul. Well done Kevin Rudd and Co.

It doesn't stop there either. The industrial deform laws (see numerous previous blogs) are to be totally changed. Student services will be resurrected in some modified form. An ideas summit has been promulgated so that the best minds of the nation can work together to find ostensible solutions to difficult problems that we all face, like drought, economic downturns, rampant development in unsustainable areas, environmental concerns, education, etc.

It's an energetic and tangible change. It's wonderful.

Now -- if we could only get this through to the advocates of the previous government. There is a very clear demarcation of mind-sets here: one that is attempting to work collectively for the greater good; the other is locked firmly in the past and sees no need to change anything, except further dismantle services in the nation. These folks are currently showing themselves to be small-minded, bigoted, surly and otherwise generally unpleasant.

C'mon people, at least offer some alternative solutions that will help everyone.

After so many years of complaining in this blog, it's really refreshing to be able to praise and to see real, positive changes happening.